Methods and systems for managing electronic work instructions for manufacture of product

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for interfacing computer modeled design and manufacture data from an Manufacturing Process Planning (MPP) system to a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and allowing, via an integration server interface, electronic work instructions of the MPP system to be revised promptly and efficiently in mid-production manufacturing processes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to computer systems and methods thatfacilitate product design and manufacturing. More specifically, theinvention relates to methods and systems for managing the integration ofvirtual design systems with physical manufacturing systems.

Computer systems and software for designing products are advantageous,including Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems in which the physicalstructure of potential products may be defined and optimized,Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) systems that simulate the physicalbehavior of the potential products and allow virtual product testing andperformance evaluation, and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systemsfor defining and optimizing manufacturing processes and operations forpotential products. Using such computer systems, potential products andtheir manufacture may be designed, modeled, and tested in a virtualon-line environment. For example, in an aircraft design context,computer systems may be utilized to model the entire aircraft and itsmanufacture, including all of its electrical or mechanical systems,sub-systems, parts, components, mechanisms, or assemblies that definethe aircraft. Such designs may be enormously complex, and managinginformation and data relating to such designs among different computersystems is challenging.

In particular, compatibility issues between different computer systemsowned and operated by different business entities can be a significantimpediment to effective use of information and data generated by orutilized by the respective systems. Also, difficulties associated withadaptations to and modifications of computer modeled designs duringphysical manufacture and production processes may lead to costlyproduction delays and undesirable discrepancies between products asdesigned and products as built.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems andmethods are disclosed for efficiently managing data and informationcorresponding to a computer modeled manufacture of a product that isutilized by different computer systems in the design and manufacturingprocess.

An exemplary embodiment of a method of revising electronic workinstructions for manufacture of a product in mid-production by amanufacturing execution system (MES) is disclosed. The electronic workinstructions are generated by a computerized manufacturing processplanning (MPP) system, and the MPP system and the MES being remotelylocated from one another. The method comprises: interfacing the MPPsystem and the MES with an integration server; storing a releasedelectronic work instruction for execution by the MES on the MPP system;communicating the electronic work instruction to the MES via theintegration server; interrupting the execution of the electronic workinstruction by the MES; and accepting a revision to the releasedelectronic work instruction.

A method of manufacturing a product that is being electronically modeledon a computerized manufacturing process planning (MPP) system thatgenerates electronic work instructions for execution by an electronicmanufacturing execution system (MES) is also disclosed. The electronicwork instructions are stored on the MPP system and the MPP system andthe MES are remotely located from one another. The method comprises:interfacing the MPP system and the MES with an integration serverseparately provided from either of the MPP system and the MES;communicating the electronic work instruction to the MES via theintegration server; executing the electronic work instruction with theMES; and while the MES is executing the electronic work instruction:pausing the execution of the electronic work instruction; revising theelectronic work instruction to effect a change to the electronic workinstruction; and re-communicating the revised electronic workinstruction to the MES.

A networked computer system for manufacturing of a product is alsodisclosed. The system comprises: a manufacturing process planning (MPP)system adapted to create a computer model of the product manufacture andto generate electronic work instructions for manufacturing of theproduct; a computerized manufacturing execution system (MES) remotelylocated from the MPP system, the MES adapted to receive the electronicwork instructions and perform corresponding manufacturing steps toproduce the product; and an integration server separately provided fromthe MPP system and the MES. The integration server is configured toretrieve the electronic work instruction from the MPP system after theMES has initiated performance of manufacturing steps but not yetcompleted the performing steps, and the integration server is adapted tore-release a revised version of the electronic work instruction.

A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for managingelectronically modeled product and manufacture data and informationexchange between a computerized manufacturing process planning (MPP)system and an electronic manufacturing execution system (MES) remotelylocated from one another is also disclosed. The program is embodied onan integration server connected between the MPP and the MES and the MPPsystem generates electronic work instructions for execution by the(MES). The program comprising at least one code segment that:communicates the electronic work instruction to the MES via theintegration server; and while the MES is executing the electronic workinstruction: pauses the execution of the electronic work instruction;accepts a revision to the electronic work instruction to effect a changeto the electronic work instruction; and re-communicates the revisedelectronic work instruction to the MES.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing brief description and thefollowing detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, andshould not be considered restrictive of the scope of the invention, asdescribed and claimed. Further, features and/or variations may beprovided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodimentsof the invention may be directed to various combinations andsub-combinations of the features described in the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with referenceto the following Figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeparts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 schematically represents an exemplary embodiment of a computersystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 schematically represents a further embodiment of the system shownin FIG. 1 illustrating the system in a business environment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method flowchart illustrating processesperformed by the system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates other exemplary processes utilized bythe system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method flowchart implementing theprocesses represented in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary method flowchart implementing theprocesses represented in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of methods and systems are disclosed hereinbelowthat facilitate efficient transfer of data and information betweendifferent computer systems for the design and manufacture of potentialproducts. As a result, incompatibility between the data input and outputformats of the of the respective systems are effectively resolved, andcomputer modeled designs may be adapted and modified in a timely mannerwhile preserving integrity and correspondence between as-built andas-designed data. Consequently, considerable reduction in time andexpense associated with the product design and manufacture is realized.

In order to appreciate the invention to its fullest extent, thefollowing disclosure will be segmented into different parts or segments,wherein Part I introduces particular difficulties and problemsassociated with computer systems for the design and manufacture ofpotential products, Part II discloses exemplary embodiments of systemsaccording to the present invention, and Part III discloses exemplaryinventive methods and processes utilized by the systems disclosed inPart II.

I. Introduction

Manufacturing Process Planning (MPP) systems allow product manufactureto be digitally modeled and evaluated in virtual form before beingphysically implemented in real world manufacturing processes. Usingcomputerized systems, manufacturing issues can by analyzed andimprovements can be made before capital expenditures are incurred topurchase or configure machines and equipment capable of manufacturing aproduct for use or sale. Such MPP systems allow manufacturing resourcesto analyzed and more efficiently allocated.

One type of Manufacturing Process Planning system includes commerciallyavailable Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, which refer to acomputer-implemented strategy that helps companies to share productdata, apply common processes, and leverage corporate knowledge for thedevelopment of products from conception to the end of their life. UsingPLM solutions, key persons across a business enterprise, including butnot limited to company departments, business partners, suppliers,Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), and customers, may participateto conceptualize, design, build, and support potential products andprocesses. Some PLM solutions make it for instance possible to designand develop products by creating digital mockups such as 3D graphicalmodels of a product, and the digital models may be defined and simulatedto analyze performance aspects and specifications. Lean digitalmanufacturing processes may also be defined and modeled using a PLMsolution. Such PLM systems and programs include those offered byDassault Systemes of Paris, France.

The PLM solution provided by Dassault Systemes under the trademarksCATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA provides an Engineering Hub, which organizesproduct engineering knowledge, a Manufacturing Hub, which managesmanufacturing engineering knowledge, and an Enterprise Hub which enablesenterprise integrations and connections into both the Engineering andManufacturing Hubs, respectively. The PLM system delivers an open objectmodel linking products, processes, resources to enable dynamic,knowledge-based product creation and decision support that drivesoptimized product definition, manufacturing preparation, production andservice. Such PLM systems include a relational database of products. Thedatabase comprises a set of data and relations between the data. Datatypically include technical data related to the products, with the databeing ordered in a hierarchy of data and are indexed to be searchable.The data are representative of the modeled objects, which are oftenmodeled products and processes.

With PLM systems, product lifecycle information including productconfiguration, process knowledge and resources information are typicallyintended to be edited in a collaborative way using PLM systems using acollaborative workspace and an interconnected environment in which allparticipants in the product lifecycle can access and interact with eachother's designs as they evolve, thereby enhancing communication throughexchange, direct use, simulation and validation in 2D, 3D or textualenvironment. The participants may include product designers andengineers, company management, product marketing personnel, salespersonnel, manufacturing personnel, OEM personnel, supplier personnel,and even product customers.

The benefits of such PLM systems are numerous, but practicaldifficulties remain when using such systems. For example, product designand manufacture data generated with a PLM system is often of greatinterest to parties using other computer systems and software, sometimesreferred to as peripheral computer systems, that are separately providedfrom the PLM system. Such peripheral systems are often obtained from adifferent hardware/software vendor than for the PLM system, but arevaluable to analyze certain aspects of the product design ormanufacture. As a result, some incompatibility between the data inputand output formats of the PLM system and the data input and outputformats of the peripheral systems often arises.

Conventionally, such incompatibility issues leads to manual datasifting, data manipulation, and reformatting of data prior to actual useby the peripheral systems. Likewise, before data outputs of theperipheral systems may be used by the PLM system, it must also typicallybe sifted, manipulated or reformatted. In a large complex product andmanufacture design, such as the design and manufacture of an aircraft,significant amounts of time can be spent dealing with nothing but datatransfer compatibility issues between different computer systems used bythe various parties involved.

As another example of practical difficulties encountered using known PLMsystems, the conversion from the digital or virtual environment of thePLM system to real world manufacturing implementation of a product cansometimes by challenging. The Digital Enterprise Lean ManufacturingInteractive Application (DELMIA) of Dassault Systemes, for example,includes tools to create a Shop Order Release (SOR) to commence physicalmanufacture of a product, and also Shop Order Instances (SOIs) thatprovide electronic work instructions and authorizations to the shopfloor where the manufacturing is to occur. The SOIs may be directlyintegrated with a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and/or EnterpriseResource Planning (ERP) system that coordinates and monitors themanufacturing processes.

From time to time, however, it has been found that as SOIs are beingexecuted on the shop floor, one or more changes or deviations from theSOIs become advisable. For example, for reasons that may not may beapparent in the digital DELMIA environment, it may be found on the shopfloor that manufacture according to the SOI is impractical,unnecessarily difficult, beyond the limitations of the machinery andequipment actually being utilized, or prohibitively expensive to performin the real world. Reconciling such changes and adaptations from theelectronic SOIs to the physical manufacture in mid-production can bechallenging and may lead to costly delays.

In particular, creating a new shop order through DELMIA that wouldproduce a new SOI including necessary changes can be time consuming.Mid-production manufacturing changes, or changes made after some but notall manufacturing steps are complete for a given stage of manufacture,can also be problematic in that they may result in “as built” productdata discrepancies from the product data “as designed.” For example,when manufacturing processes are changed after they have been initiatedand are actually in process, creation of a new shop order to reflectnecessary changes may result in changes or revision to manufacturingprocess steps that have already been executed on the shop floor. Becauseexecuted manufacturing processes may not be easily reworked, if at all,products as built whose manufacture was in-process at the time of thenew SOI will therefore deviate from products built after the new SOI isgenerated and released. Such as built versus as designed discrepanciesmay lead to confusion and uncertainty that may complicatepost-production maintenance and service of products in the field, andmay lead to undesirable performance and reliability issues andvariations in manufactured products.

II. Exemplary Inventive Systems

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingsand the following description to refer to the same or similar parts.While several exemplary embodiments and features are described herein,modifications, adaptations and other implementations are possible,without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, substitutions, additions or modifications may be made to thecomponents illustrated in the drawings, and the exemplary methodsdescribed herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or addingstages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detaileddescription does not limit the methods and systems described herein.Instead, the proper scope of the invention is defined by the appendedclaims.

FIG. 1 schematically represents an exemplary embodiment of a networkedcomputer system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. The networkmay be accomplished, for example, using local area network (LAN) and/orwide area networks (WAN), and can include all of the necessary circuitryfor such a connection. In one embodiment, the network is anInternet-based or web-based network allowing remote connection ofdifferent computers utilizing standard web interfaces.

The system 100 may be implemented when computer program instructions areloaded onto the various computers or other general purpose programmablemachines to produce the various specialized machines found on thenetwork, such that the instructions that execute on the computers orother programmable machines implement the functions specified in theblock diagrams, schematic diagrams or flowcharts discussed below. Suchcomputer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readablemedium that when loaded into a computer or other programmable machinecan direct the machine to function in a particular manner, such that theinstructions stored in the computer-readable medium producesinstructions that implement the function specified in the blockdiagrams, schematic diagrams or flowcharts. In addition, the computerprogram instructions may be loaded into one or more of the computersystems illustrated or other programmable machine to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed by the system 100 to produce acomputer-implemented process, such that the instructions that execute onthe computer or other programmable machine may provide steps forimplementing the functions specified in the block diagrams, schematicdiagrams, flowchart blocks or steps discussed herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a Manufacturing ProcessPlanning (MPP) system 102, an integration server 104, a ManufacturingExecution System 106, and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system108, and a manufacturing vendor or supplier system 109. The MPP system102, the MES 106, the ERP system 108, and the supplier system 109 may beknown computer systems in an exemplary embodiment, with the integrationserver 104 interfacing the MPP system 102 with the MES 106, the ERPsystem 108, and the supplier system 109. In such an embodiment, theintegration server 104 is not an operative component or part of any ofthe MPP system 102, the MES 106, the ERP system 108, or the suppliersystem 109. Rather, the integration server is separately provided fromthe systems 102, 106, 108 and 109 and is supplied to the system 100 tointegrate them in a beneficial manner as explained in some detail below.

In an exemplary embodiment, the MPP system 102 may be a known ProductLifecycle Management (PLM) solution commercially available from DassaultSystemes under the trademarks CATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA, although otherPLM systems may be utilized. The MPP system is configured to model thedesign and manufacture of a potential product, and facilitatecollaborative development by a number of persons across a businessenterprise as explained above. Authorized persons may access modeledproduct data, modeled manufacture data, and other information usingappropriate user interfaces that are familiar to those in the art.

The MPP system 102 may include, for example, a navigation engine 110, aquery engine 112, a database client 114 and database server 116. Queryengine 112 is controlled by the navigation engine 110; and it buildsdatabase statements depending on a user's commands and passes thedatabase statements to the database client 114. The query engine 112also manages query results received from the database client 114.

The database client 114 is adapted to manage database server connection.It receives queries from query engine 112 and passes the queries todatabase server 116. It receives query results from database server 116and passes these results to query engine 112.

Database server 116 receives queries from several database clients, suchas client 114, and serves these queries. Database server 116 istypically a relational database and may be implemented using, forexample, the solutions available from IBM under reference DB2 oravailable from Oracle. The database could also be an object or XMLdatabase, or an application server accessing a database. The applicationserver may also provide processing, on the fly or asynchronously, foradvanced query such as proximity query, spatial query, and the like.

The MPP system 102, may also include a vault server 118, for storing andproviding representations of modeled objects contained in the database.That is, the vault server 118 is used as representations repository. Thevault server 118 may be a file server, whereby representations could bestored in various files. The vault server 118 may also be implementedusing a database server, using for instance “blob” (binary languageobject) storage. The vault server 118 also may utilize proxy and/orcache technologies. The representations of objects stored may be storedin the vault server may exists in various formats, e.g. bounding-box,polygons, bitmap images, vector images, subdivision surfaces or moregenerally any format known in the art.

The vault server 118 is addressed with a vault client 120. The vaultclient 120 makes it possible for the client to address the vault server118 for retrieving representations of objects. A representation loader122 may also be included, and the representation loader 122 queries thevault server 118, through the vault client 120, for obtaining therepresentations of the objects to be displayed to the user. In addition,the representation loader 122 may manage representation utilizingincremental loading, upon receiving representations from vault client120.

A visualization engine 124 may manage representation display to theuser. It addresses a display driver 126, which manages the displayhardware such as a graphic card in most instances. For the purpose ofdisplaying representations on the display hardware, accelerated hardwaremay be used, through an OpenGL driver, or using Microsoft Direct 3D, orDirectX.

As shown in FIG. 1, the MPP system 102 may further include anEngineering Hub 128 which organizes product engineering knowledge, aManufacturing Hub 130 which manages manufacturing engineering knowledge,and an Enterprise Hub 132 which enables enterprise integrations andconnections into both the Engineering and Manufacturing Hubs,respectively. The hubs 128, 130, 132 may be implemented in relationaldatabases in the MPP system 102, and each of the hubs 128, 130 and 132may utilize modeled objects for performing their respective functions.Using the modeled objects, potential products and their manufacture maybe designed, tested, and optimized using the navigation engine 110 andthe various hubs 128, 130 and 132. As used herein, “product” may referto any commodity and/or any of its component parts or assemblies. As anillustrative example, the potential product may be an entire aircraft orany of its component systems, assemblies, and parts.

The MPP system 102 may be a web-accessed system or platform that islocated remotely from the MES 106 and the ERP system 108 of anyparticular manufacturer, and also remotely located from the manufacturersupplier system 109. The MES 106, the ERP system 108 and other similarsystems providing such functionality are believed to be familiar tothose in the art and typically are located on site at a manufacturingfacility that includes one or more areas that are often referred to as a“shop floor” containing necessary machinery, fixtures, tools andcontrols upon which products are physically manufactured. More than onemanufacturing site may be involved using the same or different MES 106or ERP system 108 for various aspects of the product manufacture andassembly for a complicated project such as the manufacture of anaircraft.

In an exemplary embodiment, the manufacturing hub 130 may be the DigitalEnterprise Lean Manufacturing Interactive Application (DELMIA) ofDassault Systemes, and may be used to communicate data to the MES 106.As previously noted, DELMIA includes tools to create a Shop OrderRelease (SOR) to commence physical manufacture of a product, and alsoShop Order Instances (SOIs) that provide electronic work instructionsand authorizations to the shop floor where the MES 106 commences realworld manufacturing of modeled products using the electronicinstructions. While much of the discussion below relates to SOIs, it isto be understood that SOIs created by the DELMIA application are but onetype of electronic work instruction, and others may likewise be utilizedin other embodiments without limitation.

The SOIs may contain, among other things, and for example only: data andinformation relating to raw materials to be utilized; data andinformation relating to surface treatments such as paints, coatings andsealants; data and information relating to inspection points and datumfor quality control purposes; control data and information forperforming specific process steps, such as numerical control dataexecutable by machines to shape, form, and finish raw materials intocomponent parts; and data and information regarding assembly ofcomponent parts to produce mechanisms, assemblies and sub-systems of aproduct. The SOIs may be stored in for example, the manufacturing hub130 of the MPP system 102 or elsewhere on the MPP system 102. The ERPsystem 108 may also communicate with the MPP system 102 to obtainnecessary data and information, including but not limited to SOIs.

Instead of directly communicating the SOIs with the (MES) 106 and/orEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 108 that coordinates and monitors themanufacturing processes, the system 100 includes the integration server104 interfacing the MPP system 102 with the MES 106 and the ERP 108, andalso interfacing the MPP system 102 with the vendor or supplier system109.

The integration Server 104 is designed to meet the need forManufacturing Process Plans generated in the MPP system 102 to bedelivered to downstream systems such as the MES 106 the ERP System 108,and vendor or supplier systems 109 of manufacturing suppliers ofmaterials, components, etc. needed to manufacture the product. Data fromthese MPP system 102 is utilized by the MES 106, the ERP system 108, andthe supplier systems 109 for purposes of job scheduling, resourceplanning, procurement, and shop floor work instruction delivery. Theintegration server 104 provides a seamless, automated method ofdelivering this Manufacturing Process Planning data from the MPP system102 to the systems that will ultimately use it, as described in somedetail below, thereby obtaining considerable time and expense ofresolving data format conflicts between the interconnected systems andmanual sifting and manipulation of data to provide each system with onlythe data that it actually needs to perform a task, in the required dataformat.

The integration server 104 is also accessible to, for example,manufacturing engineers and personnel at the shop floor wheremanufacturing operations actually occur, and provides the capability torevise a released shop order, as opposed to creating an entirely newshop order, within the authoring environment of the MPP system 102, suchas with the DELMIA application. By revising released SOI's withinDELMIA, for example, the manufacturing engineer is able to leverage theprocess analysis, work instruction templates and generative workinstruction capabilities that are available when authoring, for example,Job Plan masters in DELMIA.

Unlike conventional systems, the system 100 is amenable to methods ofmodifying an “in-process” shop order that is being executed on the shopfloor, by extracting the shop order from the MPP system 102,facilitating appropriate modification of fields of the shop order, andinjecting the SOI back into the MPP system 102 “in process”.Modification of SOIs that are embedded within the DELMIA planningenvironment allows as planned and as built product configuration to bequickly reconciled. By updating SOI information that DELMIA hasgenerated with the integration server 104, rather than recreatingentirely new SOIs using the MPP system 102, mid-production revisions tomanufacturing design is facilitated with much less delay. Theintegration server 104 may be particularly advantageous when used with,for example, CATIA DELMIA V5 CAD CAM Tools of Dassault Systemes.

FIG. 2 schematically represents a further embodiment of the system 100shown in FIG. 1 illustrating the system in a business environment. TheMPP system 102 is connected to the integration servers 104A and 104B,that in an exemplary embodiment implement a manufacturer supplierinterface 140, and a business-entity interface 142, respectively. Themanufacturer supplier interface 140 provides access to vendors andsuppliers, via the integration server 104A, to request data andinformation from the MPP system 102, and the business-entity interface142 allows data requests, via the integration server 104B, to the MPPsystem 102 from the MES 106 and the ERP 108.

As shown in FIG. 2, the MPP system 102 includes a variety of data andinformation that may be requested from the peripheral systems 106, 108and 109. For purposes of illustration only, the data may include a shoporder creation for manufacture of a product, control data for themanufacture of the product, an engineering bill of materials, amanufacturer bill of materials, a supplier request, a product structurerequest, a part master request, a change notice, a work center request,a raw material request, a fabrication plan, an installation plan, a shoporder update, and a release table update.

As also shown in FIG. 2, the manufacturer supplier interface 140 mayinclude a web interface 144, an optional adaptor 146 and one or moreapplication programming interfaces 148 and 150 converting a request forinformation, submitted via the supplier system 109, into a formatrecognized by the MPP system 102. Likewise, the business-entityinterface 142 includes an optional adaptor 152 and one or moreapplication programming interfaces 154 and 156 converting a request forinformation, submitted via, for example, one of the MES 106 and the ERPsystem 108, into a format recognized by the MPP system 102.

The adaptors and application programming interfaces (APIs) may beimplemented in appropriate algorithms tailored to address compatibilityissues between the MPP systems 102 and the peripheral systems 106, 108and 109 in terms of data input, data output, and data format. As such,the integration servers 104A and 104B may be thought of as interpretersthat bridge the differences in form and content of data input and outputbetween the systems 102, 106, 108 and 109 and allow seamlesscommunication between them in an automated manner. In such a manner, theintegration servers 104A and 104B expose the functionality of the MPPsystem 102 through web service interfaces to peripheral computer systemsof the business entity and/or to suppliers and vendors. The peripheralsystems 106, 108 and 109 may utilize a service oriented architecture(SOA) allowing any of the system to access data from the MPP system 102in whatever format and content required by the peripheral systems. Theintegration servers 104A and 104B avoid manual extraction of data,manual editing and conversion of data, and cumbersome transfer of databetween incongruent computer systems. Business entities, vendors, andsuppliers may therefore receive more timely updated data, without havingto reformat it for practical use.

The integration servers 104A and 104B are scalable and capable ofhandling multiple requests by multiple peripheral systems using knownqueuing techniques. In a multiple entity vendor/supplier/departmentenvironment using computers with certain data input and outputincompatibilities, the integration servers 104A and 104B are desirableto make the MPP system data available to other systems and downstreamprocesses to maintain integrity and configuration of data.

III. Inventive Processes and Methods

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method flowchart 170 illustratingprocesses performed by the system 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and morespecifically processes executable by the integration servers 104A and104B. The flowchart 170 illustrates a method of distributing electronicdata from an MPP system in a service oriented architecture to at leastone peripheral computer system separately supplied from the MPP system,such as the MES, the ERP systems and the vendor/supplier systemsdiscussed above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the integration servers may be installed 172 tointerface the MPP system with the peripheral systems Once installed andso configured, the integration server or servers may receive 174 aservice request for design or manufacturing data from the MPP system byany of the peripheral computer systems connected downstream from the MPPsystem. The requests for data, may be submitted, for example, throughweb interfaces of the peripheral computer systems to the MPP system.

Once received, data requests are queued 176 on the integration serversusing known techniques, and the integration servers proceed to processthe data requests, for example, in the order that they are received. Itis contemplated, however, that certain requests may be flagged aspriority requests that may be expedited and processed before othernon-priority requests depending on the sophistication of the particularprotocol used to submit requests.

Data requests may be processed by adapting 178 the data request to aform recognized by the MPP system, and determining 180 the particulardata that is being requested. Also, if necessary, the data request mayentail an application programming interface to be called 182 so thatinformation can be requested or queried from the pertinent portion ofthe MPP system. The data is then requested 184, in a format compatiblewith the MPP system, by the integration server from the MPP system. Theintegration servers then wait for the MPP system to respond with therequested data in a predetermined format, such as an XML file havingcertain predefined information fields.

Once the requested data is received 186 by the integration servers, theintegration servers proceed to adapt data 188 to the extent necessary,call 190 any application programming interfaces needed, and forward 192the data to the requesting peripheral system in the required format. Thedata processing is performed automatically by the integration serversand is generally transparent to end users of the peripheral systems.

Additional steps may also performed in the method 170, such as dataarchiving, data mining techniques, and report compilation andutilization of request tracking in the protocol to evaluate systemperformance. Still other steps may be performed as desired.

The integration servers and the method 170 provide an effective tool tomap any site-specific MPP system configuration to preferred data formatand standards for use by the business entities. Cumbersome compatibilityissues of incongruent systems insofar as data format and practices areconcerned are avoided along with associated costs and delays ofmanipulating data to a readily usable form by other computer systems.All this is achievable with relatively straightforward site installationand configuration of the integration servers.

By way of example, in one implementation of the method 170, theintegration server may process requests to Create Shop Orders made bythe peripheral systems. For each request, the integration servers maycreate a Shop Order Instance (SOI) from the MPP system, and return anXML output file and CATProcess simulation file to the requestingperipheral system. The data extraction function itself is sufficientlyresponsive such that data can be retrieved without a significant delay.For example, generating the XML document may be accomplished in about 5seconds or less, saving the CATProcess Document file may be accomplishedin about 3 seconds or less, adding tracking information to the XMLoutput file may be accomplished in about 1 second or less, andgeneration of a standard data extraction report may be accomplished inless than about 2 seconds. Considered over a lengthy period of timeinvolved with, for example, the design, development and manufacture ofan aircraft, time savings and associated expense can be significant suchas for example, about a 3 to 6 month reduction of time in thedevelopment cycle.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates other exemplary processes utilized bythe system 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Specifically, FIG. 4 illustratesdifferent phases of the MPP system design and development cycle,including a mission analysis definition phase 200, a define missionrequirements phase 202, a concept definition phase 204, a conceptdevelopment phase 206, a preliminary definition phase 208, a detaildefinition phase 210, a first articles phase 212, and a production phase214. It is in the production phase 214 that the SOIs are implicated, andFIG. 4 illustrates the SOI lifecycle and processes performed by theintegration servers to better facilitate manufacturing processes.

As shown in FIG. 4, the SOI lifecycle generally encompasses threedistinct phases, namely creation 216, execution 218, and revision 220.The creation phase 216 involves receiving a request for shop order 222,requesting 224 an SOI from the MPP system, and sending 226 the SOI to,for example, the MES to commence physical manufacture of the product.The creation phase 216 in one embodiment generally encompasses themethod 170 explained above and illustrated in FIG. 4, although thecreation phase could alternatively be performed entirely within the MPPsystem itself.

The execution phase 218 includes starting the job 228 and performingmanufacturing steps according to the electronic work instructionscontained in the SOI. Once the job is started 228, it generallycontinues until, as noted above, an unplanned revision is required dueto observations and limitations experienced on the manufacturing shopfloor. If revision is required at step 230, the basis for the revisionis documented 230 and the revision phase 220 is entered.

In the revision phase 220, the documentation is reviewed 232, typicallyby a manufacturing engineer or other responsible person, and in responseto the documentation, the engineer or other person authors 234 arevision to the SOI being executed. Once the appropriate changes,modifications, or revisions are authored 234, the revised SOI iselectronically released 236 and sent back to the execution phase 218 forcompletion of the SOI at step 238 from the point that revision wasrequired. Notably, manufacturing steps that were executed prior to therevision being required at step 230 are not changed and are notre-executed, but rather the execution of the revised SOI occurs andapplies to only the manufacturing steps that were not yet executed atthe time that revision of the SOI was required and execution of theoriginal SOI was interrupted or paused for the revision to the SOI.Integrity and correspondence of as built and as designed product data istherefore ensured.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method flowchart implementing theprocesses represented in FIG. 4, and specifically illustrating the rolesof the integration servers in revising electronic work instructions formanufacture of a product in mid-production by a manufacturing executionsystem (MES).

The method 250 includes installing 252 the integration servers asdescribed above, generating 254 and releasing 256 the SOI to, forexample the MES to commence manufacturing operations. The SOI may begenerated and released in any manner explained above. Also, in anillustrative embodiment, the generation of the SOI may involve defininga plan type definition in the MPP system that allows the SOI to berepresented within, for example, a DELMIA project. The SOI plan typeallows the SOI to be stored 258 in the DELMIA Manufacturing Hub incontext with, for example, the Job Plan masters in the DELMIAapplication.

When the released SOI is communicated 260 to the MES, manufacturingoperations are commenced to execute 262 the SOI. Execution of the SOIcontinues until an unplanned event or observations leads to interruption264 of the SOI execution until the SOI can be revised. At this point theintegration server retrieves 266 the SOI so that a manufacturingengineer or other responsible person can author an appropriate revision.Retrieval of the SOI by the integration server may encompass some or allof the techniques described in relation to the method 170 for efficientdata transfer and communication between the MPP system and the MESsystem that the engineer or other person may utilize to author revisionsto the SOI.

When appropriate changes or revision to the interrupted SOI is made, theintegration server accepts 268 the revised SOI and electronicallyre-releases 270 the SOI, including all revisions, to the MES to continue272 its execution forward from the point of interruption at step 264. Nochanges to manufacturing steps executed prior to the interruption aremade in the revision, thereby ensuring the integrity and correspondenceof as built and as designed data in manufactured products.

FIG. 6 also illustrates an exemplary method flowchart implementing theprocesses represented in FIG. 4, and specifically illustrating the rolesof the integration servers in a method of manufacturing a product thatis electronically modeled on the MPP system.

The method 300 shown in FIG. 6 includes installing 302 the integrationservers as described above and communicating 304 the SOI to the MES tocommence manufacturing operations. The SOI may be generated, releasedand communicated in any manner explained above. Like the method 250described above, the generation of the SOI may involve defining a plantype definition in the MPP system that allows the SOI to be representedwithin, for example, a DELMIA project. The SOI plan type allows the SOIto be stored in the DELMIA Manufacturing Hub in context with, forexample, the Job Plan masters in the DELMIA application.

When the released SOI is communicated 304 to the MES, manufacturingoperations are commenced to execute 306 the SOI. Execution of the SOIcontinues until an unplanned event or observations leads to executionbeing paused 308 until the SOI can be revised. At this point theintegration server retrieves 310 the SOI so that a manufacturingengineer or other responsible person can revise 312 the SOI. Retrievalof the SOI by the integration server may encompass some or all of thetechniques described in relation to the method 170 for efficient datatransfer and communication between the MPP system and the MES systemthat the engineer or other person may utilize to author revisions to theSOI.

When appropriate changes or revision to the paused SOI is made at step312, the integration server re-communicates 314 the SOI, including allrevisions, to the MES to continue 316 its execution forward from thepoint where it was paused at step 308. No changes to manufacturing stepsexecuted prior to the pause are made in the revision, thereby ensuringthe integrity and correspondence of as built and as designed data inmanufactured products.

Using either of the methods 250 or 300, the ability to revise SOIs inmid-production of a product may result in a substantial reduction ofproduction cycle time. For instance, expected cycle time for revising orupdating a released shop order is expected to be 10 minutes or less inmost circumstances. As-Planned versus As Built reconciliation can alsobe accomplished in about 10 minutes or less in most circumstances.Implementing a complex multi unit change to an SOI can likewise beaccomplished in about 10 minutes or less.

Having now described some exemplary systems and exemplary methods andprocesses utilized by the systems, implementation of the same isbelieved to be a matter of programming the components so that theirrespective functions may be performed. Programming details are believedto be beyond the scope of this disclosure and within the ordinary skillin the art to implement without further discussion and detail, and sofurther detail and discussion thereof is believed to be unnecessary.

Inventive systems and methods having appreciable benefits are disclosedthat address complex problems in managing the flow of data andinformation to and from MPP systems and peripheral computer systems in alarge scale, complex product design and manufacture such as an aircraftdesign. The systems and methods further facilitate manufacturing changesand revisions in mid-production manufacturing processes with minimaldelay and while ensuring integrity and correspondence of as built and asdesigned product and manufacture data. These and other benefits andadvantages are now believed to be amply disclosed and demonstrated.

While exemplary methods and systems haves been described in terms ofvarious specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognizethat they can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scopeof the claims.

1. A method of revising electronic work instructions for manufacture ofa product in mid-production by a manufacturing execution system (MES),the electronic work instructions being generated by a computerizedmanufacturing process planning (MPP) system, the MPP system and the MESbeing remotely located from one another, the method comprising:interfacing the MPP system and the MES with an integration server;storing a released electronic work instruction for execution by the MESon the MPP system; communicating the electronic work instruction to theMES via the integration server; interrupting the execution of theelectronic work instruction by the MES; and accepting a revision to thereleased electronic work instruction.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising retrieving the released electronic work instruction with theintegration server.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingelectronically re-releasing the revised electronic work instruction tothe MES for execution after the point of interruption.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising storing the revised electronic workinstruction on the MPP.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronicwork instruction comprises a shop order instance (SOI).
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the MPP system comprises a Product Lifecycle Management(PLM) system.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the PLM system comprisesan manufacturing hub, the method comprising: storing the releasedelectronic work instruction in the manufacturing hub.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: defining, with the MPP system, a shop orderinstance (SOI) plan type corresponding to the electronic workinstruction.
 9. A method of manufacturing a product, the product beingelectronically modeled on a computerized manufacturing process planning(MPP) system that generates electronic work instructions for executionby an electronic manufacturing execution system (MES), the electronicwork instructions being stored on the MPP system and the MPP system andthe MES being remotely located from one another, the method comprising:interfacing the MPP system and the MES with an integration serverseparately provided from either of the MPP system and the MES;communicating the electronic work instruction to the MES via theintegration server; executing the electronic work instruction with theMES; and while the MES is executing the electronic work instruction:pausing the execution of the electronic work instruction; revising theelectronic work instruction to effect a change to the electronic workinstruction; and re-communicating the revised electronic workinstruction to the MES.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:executing the electronic work instruction from the point that it waspaused.
 11. The method of claim 9 further comprising storing theelectronic work instruction on the MPP system.
 12. The method of claim9, further comprising retrieving the released electronic workinstruction with the integration server.
 13. The method of claim 9,wherein the electronic work instruction comprises a shop order instance(SOI).
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the MPP system comprises aProduct Lifecycle Management (PLM) system.
 15. The method of claim 15,wherein the PLM system comprises an manufacturing hub, the methodcomprising: storing the released electronic work instruction in themanufacturing hub.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:defining, with the MPP system, a shop order instance (SOI) plan typecorresponding to the electronic work instruction.
 17. A networkedcomputer system for manufacturing of a product, the system comprising: amanufacturing process planning (MPP) system adapted to create a computermodel of the product manufacture and to generate electronic workinstructions for manufacturing of the product; a computerizedmanufacturing execution system (MES) remotely located from the MPPsystem, the MES adapted to receive the electronic work instructions andperform corresponding manufacturing steps to produce the product; and anintegration server separately provided from the MPP system and the MES,the integration server configured to retrieve the electronic workinstruction from the MPP system after the MES has initiated performanceof manufacturing steps but not yet completed the performing steps, andthe integration server adapted to re-release a revised version of theelectronic work instruction.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the MPPsystem is a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system.
 19. The system ofclaim 17 wherein the MPP system comprises a shop order instance (SOI).20. The system of claim 17 wherein the MES is adapted to execute therevised version of the electronic work instruction only formanufacturing steps that have not been completed.
 21. A computer programembodied on a computer readable medium for managing electronicallymodeled product and manufacture data and information exchange between acomputerized manufacturing process planning (MPP) system and anelectronic manufacturing execution system (MES) remotely located fromone another, the program embodied on an integration server connectedbetween the MPP and the MES and the MPP system generating electronicwork instructions for execution by the (MES), the program comprising atleast one code segment that: communicates the electronic workinstruction to the MES via the integration server; and while the MES isexecuting the electronic work instruction: pausing the execution of theelectronic work instruction; accepting a revision to the electronic workinstruction to effect a change to the electronic work instruction; andre-communicating the revised electronic work instruction to the MES.